Sabor
by Reidfan
Summary: Undocumented workers are being murdered in San Jose, Ca, the agent in charge is an old academy friend of JJ's,Spencer find himself smitten with the fiesty latina who is one of the first people not to cringe during a conversations with him. It's done!
1. Chapter 1

_**Sabor by Stefanie Gomez**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, all characters are property of CBS and their affilliates, this is my humble h'omage to their genius.  
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_**A/N: This story is set in San Jose, California my home town. A few things, the police station is actually on Mission Street but I had to centrally locate it for purposes of the story. As far as Reid's living situation, I don't think there's cannon on this subject, where the heck does he live? If I'm wrong please let me know, but there was some google maps research done on this story, just so you know. So I figured he would live close to work, next to public transportation. Being he's so logical and all. **_

_**Pairings: S. Reid/Other Character**_

**Chapter 1**

The air is crisp and fresh in downtown San Jose, capital of Silicon Valley. A couple is walking through Plaza de Cesar Chavez, the famous Fairmont Hotel is just across the street and the twinkle lights shine in the clear cool night. Traffic is starting to thin as people make their way home to the outer lying city where the homes aren't stacked upon each other like they are down here. Maria waves good bye to Soccoro. "Cuida te!" she tells her friend as she walks out of the Fairmont from a long and tiring shift of making beds and cleaning up after los ricos. Those people with money who never look at you twice and are embarrassed if they do, she sometimes felt sorry for them. Some of them looked so sad sometimes. Those women who came here for work conferences but had no one to call back home when the work was done, like Miss Johnson today, she had made sure to put an extra chocolate on her pillow, she had seen that she had candy wrappers from the mini bar, those were so expensive, so Maria had left a king size bar from the machine in the break room so she wouldn't have to dip into the over priced junk in the fridge.

It was only three light rail stops home for Maria, but she would never make it. She was waiting for the train to arrive; it was running late tonight so she decided to get a quick drink at one of the little stands that are always next to the light rail. "Mrs. Munoz how was work?" asked the attendant. He was a happy man who loved talking to people. "Oh, pos you know Randy, trabajo, work is a lot of work!" They had this little exchange at least once a week. "Okay I see you soon." Maria said in her accented English.

She turned back to the light rail station, she never saw the man run towards her. She only felt the hand on her mouth and suddenly being weightless. Before she knew she was doing so, she kicked and tried to scream, then a horrible pain erupted in her chest and she felt warm liquid spurt everywhere. The pain was white hot, she could feel the blade in her skin, but it didn't register, by some miracle she faded away before the horror of what had happened to her set in. The last thing she saw was his face and those cold unfeeling eyes boring into her. The man wrapped her body in a painting canvass, put her in the van, he drove the four blocks to the station house and dropped her on the steps like a badly wrapped present. This one would definitely get her attention.

Sophia Segura was sitting down to a dinner of truck tacos and jamica at her desk in the make shift office in the SJPD station. She had grown up here her whole life, a chubby short Mexican girl who grew up into a curvaceous woman. She had only moved to "the city" as they called it to be next to work, two murders and she was having to beg for resources, she was going to need help on this one. Before she could pick up the phone to Quantico. "Agent Segura?" one of the uniforms called after her, she had been lost in thought trying to come up with a connection between the victims, the hotels and was trying in vain to get the images of the slain women out of her head for just a moment. "Agent Segura?"

"Sorry, yes officer?"

"I think you'd better come see this. It's happened again."

Her heart dropping into her stomach knowing, that he didn't mean the printer had jammed. She ran out the door and down the steps, right there, the bastard had left the body right there on Santa Clara Street, right in front of the station the killer had left a ghastly present for her. She grabbed her gloves and carefully peeled back the canvass, he'd done it again. There was this poor woman, stabbed, beaten, raped and they had carved the words "return to sender" into her chest. If she hadn't been determined before, now it was war.

* * *

Reid was sitting in his apartment watching a Star Trek marathon when his cell phone rang. "Hey Morgan."

"Hey kid, come meet me down at Command Post over on Potomac, I've got someone I want you to meet."

"Morgan, I don't know…"

"Come on kid, you have something better to do than meet someone, like what watching a Star Trek marathon?" Reid was more than somewhat disturbed by his on the nose prediction.

"I'll be there in thirty." He said resigning himself to the inevitably awkward night ahead of him.

"That's my boy." Morgan hung up before he could say anything else. Every time any one had tried to set him up, it had been a disaster, he never knew what to say, or he said way too much, he worked with the worst killers known to human kind all day, every day and he had a hard time making small talk that didn't involved victomology or m/o's or random cursed himself for agreeing to meet Morgan, but it was better than sitting at home alone, or at least he hoped it would be.

After showering and a quick shave, he headed out the door to the Amtrak station and prepared for whatever Morgan had in store, his stomach tying itself into uncomfortable knots the whole way there. He was running a little late but as he entered the boisterous bar no one, especially Morgan seemed to notice his late arrival; Derek was busy playing a drinking game with three blonde women at a table. Reid took a deep breath and started walking toward them, Morgan caught site of him and motioned enthusiastically for him to join them.

"Hey kid! Come meet Mindy! Mindy, this is Dr. Spencer Reid, he's a certifiable genius and an FBI agent." Morgan made him sound like a cross between Stephen Hawkin and Rambo. The girl was what you would call gifted in a physical way, there was no denying she was beautiful with golden hair that reminded him of JJ and he couldn't help but notice she was more than a little top heavy, most likely surgery, he wondered if he should tell her the statistics on silicone leakage, then immediately thought better of it. "Hi, I'm Mindy. Derek tells me you guys catch serial killers, isn't that scary?" Reid's mind raced a million miles a minute with statistics on serials killers, m/o's and apprehension rates but all that came out was. "Yeah, it can be. Sometimes."

Mindy who was an aerobics instructor and extreme sports enthusiast and didn't seem to register his discomfort with the opposite sex. She told him all about her job, the latest gossip on people he didn't know and told him all about her most recent base jumping trip. He had no idea what to say so he fell back on old habits. "Did you know that the main chute will fail to deploy correctly about 0.1% of the time. That is, about 1 time every 1000 jumps. The second chute is slightly more reliable, perhaps failing 1 time every 2000 or more uses although this number is harder to estimate accurately: reserve chutes don't need to be deployed that often." Reid immediately realized the chilling effect this had on the conversation. "I'm going to get another drink, did you want one?"

"Um, no thank you, I'm not much of a drinker." He stared at his Coke.

"You don't say." Mindy walked toward the bar and he never saw her again.

"What happened? She seemed totally into you?" Morgan was asking from over the head of a girl who Reid didn't recognize.

"Morgan she jumped off buildings for fun, she invited me to go sky diving;don't you know any one who isn't interested in statistical suicide?"

"You mean like ones that watch Star Trek on Friday nights?" Morgan teased.

"I'm heading home, have fun." Reid turned to go. Morgan was motioning for the red head to wait for him. Morgan had just caught up with Reid when both their phones went off. A text from JJ, all it said was "Got a case, get here ASAP." Neither one of them needed to ask where "here" was. "Come on kid, we'll ride in together. Just let me go say bye to Tina." In 10 minutes they had pulled into the FBI parking garage and headed toward the elevators.

JJ was already making her way toward the bull pen, hair in a pony tail, jeans and t-shirt on, clearly someone had woken her up from bed. Reid noticed how motherhood agreed with her, she had never lost that glow, he was happy for her and was so proud to be Henry's godfather but it would be a lie to say he still didn't care about her but it was changing into something he could almost handle. "How'd you guys get here so quick?" JJ asked. "We would have been here sooner, if Morgan hadn't stopped to tell _Tina_ goodbye." A very smug Reid teased. JJ just smiled. "Hotch is on his way, Rossi is stuck in Colorado, snow storm. Garcia and Prentiss are on their way. We're going to have to leave tonight, Northern California, San Jose so pack light sweaters in your go bag." She rushed off to take the phone call in her office.

"Sorry JJ, you know I wouldn't call this favor in, if it wasn't absolutely necessary. This guy is blatant, and we need all the help we can get." Sophia sounded like she hadn't slept in days, because she hadn't. "You know I could never say no to you, and I think our team can really help on this one, sounds like he has a ritual." JJ tried to reassure her old academy friend, they hadn't been in touch for over four years, their careers always taking center stage. "I'll have someone to meet you at the airport, what's your ETA?" Sophia had an entourage of uniforms waiting to escort the BAU team to the station. "We should be there in three hours." JJ said matter of factly.

"You got a flight that quick?" Sophia said unbelieving of her friend's resourcefulness.

"We have our own jet." JJ smiled as she said it.

"Now I'm jealous, I'll have breakfast ready, none of you are vegetarians right?" Sophie asked like it was a communicable disease.

"No, all carnivores here." JJ laughed

JJ picked up the files Sophie had sent her, and walked toward the conference room. The pictures were horrendous and all she could think about was how those women died in terror. Hotch was sitting down business like, and polished, JJ wondered if he slept in his Clark Kent uniform of suit and tie."Less than four ago, agent Sophia Segura out of the San Francisco field office called us in on what is now three murder cases of undocumented workers in San Jose, California about 50 miles south of S.F. All the victims worked in high end hotels in the downtown area. The unsub beat, raped and stabbed all three women." JJ flipped the slide and there was Maria Munoz the latest victim with the writing carved deep into her chest. "Helena Gomez was abducted last seen leaving work through the service entrance of the Montgomery Hotel. Maricella Lopez was last seen leaving her night shift at the Marriott; all three women have been delivered to the SJPD station steps with _this_ carved into their chest."

"Return to sender." Reid looked baffled, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Agent Segura thinks it's a racial slur, there has been an active and aggressive white supremacy group that has popped up in San Jose over the past few years. They've rounded up the usual suspects but can't link the group to the murders so far. The murders started September 15th, the beginning of Hispanic Heritage month" JJ said with a sad look in her eyes as she looked at Maria's lifeless body splayed on the screen.

"This guy is obviously a racist or someone who wants to makes us think he is. The time it would take to make carvings this deep, he assaulted her after she was dead, small miracles. JJ it says here that the bodies were all dumped in front of the police station?" Prentiss asked.

"The latest one was addressed directly to Agent Segura, whoever the unsub is, knows who is working the case and that the FBI is involved. She's taken it quite personally. She's an old friend from the academy, and a brilliant agent, has a PHD is psychology and consults for the bureau on cultural and sociological barriers between victims and law enforcement.." JJ couldn't help but be proud of her friend, they had after all just been two really green young women when entering the academy together.

"This guy has killed three different women who worked in hotels in the downtown area, and risks transporting a body to the police station with cameras everywhere, that's a whole lot of confidence or a whole lot of stupid." Morgan observed.

"Well those aren't mutually exclusive qualities. JJ why aren't there any missing persons reports for these women, it says they all had wedding rings and family pictures in their purses?" Reid had noticed that none of the women's families had been contacted, they couldn't be found according to the case files.

Hotch answered "These women were undocumented, it would have been in their best interest to reveal as little information as possible to their employers, probably using fake addresses, socials and would have taught their children not to talk to authority figures, where these women come from the police are just one more thing to be afraid of. Garcia take a look at the camera footage, see if you can find any identifying markers on the man. Any suspicious vehicles, get delivery schedules to and from that precinct, visitor logs, everything this guy didn't just become invisible all of a sudden.."

Garcia nodded her head. "This scum bucket can't hide from the all seeing Goddess of technospace.

"Wheels up in 20 guys." Hotch walked out of the room to let his sister in law know he wasn't coming to get Jack tonight.

The team was on board in 15, everyone seemed to want to catch this guy, the combination of the level of violence and the blatant stupidity of his cause seemed to inflame the passions of the whole team. Reid tried to sleep but he couldn't stop looking at Maria Munoz, her eyes were still open, and somewhere her family was missing her and were too scared to ask for help. He stared off into the night sky, which seemed infinite as they headed west. The jet touched down at 1am Pacific time. The tarmac was surpisingly busy as such a late hour.

"JJ! You guys got here fast, remind me to requisition one of those sometime." A shorter, full figured woman called out. Reid noticed she had large dark curls that weren't from a curling iron, she wore fitted jeans and a button down white shirt with a black sweater vest. He was wearing the same outfit, he noted this in the back of his mind.

"Sophie, Please tell me you have breakfast waiting, I'm starved." JJ said and she reached out to hug her old friend.

"You know I wouldn't leave my amiga hanging I figured I'd get some caffeine in all of you, I had the diner set up breakfast at the station.." Sophie had the three uniforms with her, pull out the Starbucks trays, filled with mochas, lattes, and hot chocolate.

JJ made the introductions. "Dr. Sophia Segura this is SSA Hotchner, SSA Prentiss, SSA Morgan and Dr. Spencer Reid."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, I know you're working on no sleep and you just flew 3,000 miles, so let's get some food in you and get you settled." Sophia silently noted she was dressed exactly like the skinny gringo, she didn't know what to think about that.

They all headed toward the standard bureau issue Surburbans. Reid went mad for a moment and decided he would take a chance. "Doctor, JJ says you work with law enforcement agencies and victims who are less than forthcoming, do you think you could give me some insight on what these women were like? What was life like for them, it will be essential to a cohesive victomology profile." Reid waited for the strange look, for the feeling of alienation that came with any of his attempts at making contact with the opposite sex, he waited with baited breath, for her to answer. " Sophia, just Sophia not Doctor please, and these women statistically are from various regions in Mexico, they come here by way of coyotes, human smugglers who charge exorbiatant amounts of money for horrible traveling conditions and sometimes have the audacity to rape the women in their care and charge them extra for it, they've learned to talk to no one and trust fewer than that. They come here for what everyone does, a chance at a better life, a chance for survival, they risk drowning, dehydration, starvation and armed boarder agents just to so they can go to work everyday to earn less than anyone else and clean our homes, make our beds and maybe give their children a better life. These women were hard workers who paid taxes, cared for their children and knew they had no protection under the law. Their families are probably worried sick that they've been deported or arrested and that's why they haven't come forward. Come on you and JJ are with me. My mother would kill me if she found out I didn't get some food in you guys soon, we'll discuss it over breakfast."

When she spoke Reid couldn't stop looking at her eyes, they were a deep dark honey brown with gold flecks in them and when she spoke you could hear and seen the passion and empathy for these women and their situation. She jumped into the drivers seat of the suv and proceeded to give a whole new meaning to "dangerous curves." Reid could feel his heart rate elevate every time she glanced in the rear view at him or to check her mirrors, he couldn't tell which though he found himself secretly hoping it was the former.


	2. Chapter 2 Our Lady of Esperanza

Chapter 2- Our Lady of Esperanza

They pulled into the station house and Reid could smell pancakes from the car. He loved pancakes. His stomach betrayed him and growled so loudly Sophia turned and smirked as she said "Hope you like pancakes sausage and steak ranchero Dr. Reid." He was so embarrassed by the involuntary noise that he just smiled back; he noticed she didn't stop smiling at him. They entered the conference room with the rest of the team already chowing down. "Agent Segura, I like your style." Morgan said appreciatively of the spread that had been arranged with the pile of files of missing women.

"Agent Segura?" the same fresh faced uniform that had called her to the step last night was waiting for her when she came in. "Officer Barry, what's up?" She could tell by the look in his eyes that it was nothing short of terrible news. "Another woman was attacked last night; she's at Valley Medical right now." "She's alive?" she couldn't believe their good luck. "Why didn't you call me? A la chingada!" She burst into the conference room. "SSA Hotchner can I borrow your female agents? We have a live victim and we might be able to get more out of her if there aren't too many males present." Hotch looked at Reid and said "Take Reid with you too, he has a way with people." The whole team looked at Hotch like he'd lost his mind, including Reid. "Come on Dr. Reid I could use your expertise on victimology too."

JJ, Prentiss, Sophia and Reid all headed out to the suburban. Sophia jumped into the driver's seat, oblivious to JJ and Prentiss hatching a blot to sit in back together. "It's okay Reid, Emily and I will ride in back, take shotgun, so you and Sophie can figure out your strategy for the interview." JJ had an almost devilish grin on her face, she knew! How could she possibly know? He was being paranoid.

They all buckled in and soon were what can only be described as careening down the freeway toward Valley Medical which was a good 15 minutes away by freeway unless you were Sophie. As she hopped on 280 North, Sophie asked Reid "What are the important factors here, what is it we want to know? These women are by culture extremely private and by nature don't talk to the cops." Reid found himself staring at her again; she had an intensity to her that scared and intrigued him at the same time. "Well beyond a physical description, we'll need to know if he said anything, what did he smell like, what was she doing before she was attacked, does she know of anyone who would want to hurt her, we're going to have to know everything about her, I think it would be best if I stayed in the background and let you do the talking." He blushed in an almost school boy way when he breathed out the last sentence. Sophie nodded her head. "This guy is really starting to piss me off." Reid looked back at JJ and Emily and knew all three were thinking the same thing; Sophia Segura is not someone you want pissed at you.

Less than 8 harrowing break neck minutes later, Reid had checked his watch they were parking in the Valley Medical parking lot. "She's in ICU, it's through this door and upstairs. I gave strict instructions to not let her leave until we got here." Sophie charged up the walkway and to the large medical elevators. Reid could tell she was really taking this personally, he knew what it was like for an unsub to try and mess with your head by singling out an agent, he had been there.

The ICU was like so many others around the country, he wondered if they made them this uninviting on purpose, the air of trauma was everywhere. A nurse tried to stop them, Sophie took the lead, flashed her badge said something in Spanish to the woman and without a word she lead them to Esperanza Montega's room. Reid caught up with Sophie, "What did you say to her? She looks terrified." Reid whispered under his breath.

"I just let her know that obstruction of justice carries a ten year sentence." Sophie flashed him one of those smiles that made him feel like he was the only one in the room.

Esperanza was laying there in bed, surrounded by her husband and brother. "Seniora Montega?" Sophie approached the sick bed respectfully and quietly, her whole demeanor had changed into one of solemnity. "Pudemos a pregunta te…?" She never let Sophie finish. "Yes, Agent I can answer any of your questions. But I don't know how much help I'll be." The Mexican national spoke in quiet clipped but perfect English. Reid stepped out of the background. "Mrs. Montega, can you tell us anything about the man who did this to you? Did he say anything, or do you remember anyone hanging around before you got off work?"

"I remember I got off work late because we had so much to do, with the conference. The National Conference of Hispanic Women, this is the first time I'd been in charge, I remember leaving through the service entrance to get to my car, I park in the lot on that side. I felt someone walking behind me, but so many maintenance people get off at that time, I was worried about if my kids had eaten dinner. He had grabbed me before I knew what was going on. He was white, he had a shaved head. I didn't see him pull out the knife but I felt the sharp point, right after he stabbed me he said.." She was having a hard time concentrating. Tears started to well up in her eyes. To everyone's surprise Reid reached out and held her hand. "It's okay Mrs. Montega, what did he say?" She looked up at him; "He said, 'I'm just sending you back where you belong.' And then everything went dark. They told me that a security guard was making his rounds and saw me lying there while someone ran away, he stopped to help me, he knew CPR, if he had chased him I wouldn't be alive."

The whole room went silent. Sophie was having a hard time suppressing her rage; this guy knew how to push her buttons. JJ saw the effort Sophie was putting into her composure. "Mrs. Montega, we mean no disrespect but we have to know are you in this country illegally? Or are any of your family members here illegally? We only ask because this man seems to be targeting women who are undocumented workers working at hotels in the area."

JJ didn't know how this was going to be received but Esperanza Montega was used to this question like so many like her are. "My family came here to escape the poverty and corruption that runs rampant in Mexico City, we crossed the border in a truck filled with a hundred other people all packed in like sardines. We got to this country and worked the fields that grow your food, we took any job no matter how hard or dirty it was, we slept under bridges, in churches and shelters until we could afford a one room apartment. We sent our children to school, started paying taxes on our paychecks, and as soon as we found the La Raza community center we started applying for citizenship, taking the classes to learn English, after three years of saving we finally got our papers last year. I had been working at the hotel when I was promoted from maintenance to events planner." Sophie almost lost it, this son of a bitch had attacked someone who had done everything to try to make it right, a family who wanted nothing more than to come here and be productive members of society and he was pissed because they didn't arrive in this country on a ship named after a damn plant.

Reid brought Sophie out of her rosary of hatred for the man who'd done this. "Community center? They helped people get their citizenship there?" Reid said it more as a statement.

"Yes, they have an immigration attorney who volunteers there. He discounts the price for members of the community center." Mrs. Montega looked in the doorway, her sister had just arrived, she looked confused upon entering the room. Reid went on "Did you maybe know any of the other women, Maria Munoz, Helena Gomez or Maricella Lopez? Do any of those names sound familiar to you?" His mind was working over time, social network analysis equations were formulating, while he listened.

"There are so many of us that go through there Agent." Mrs. Montega turned to her sister, "Yolanda, are the kids with you?" the woman's face went sheet white. "They're not with you? They're not here?" Her sister now looked more panicked than ever. "What do you mean, que dices Dolores?" Mrs. Montega was now even more panic stricken than her sister. "A man came to the door, he had on a police mans uniform, he said he would take Veronica and Abel to the hospital, that I needed to wait at the house in case a detective came by to ask me questions. He said he would take them here." Dolores looked to the agents for confirmation and went even paler when none of them responded.

Reid grabbed his phone and called Hotch. "Did SJPD send a patrol car to pick up Esperanza Montega's kids?"

"Garcia just tracked down her address, no patrols have been sent yet. Why, what's going on Reid?" Hotch knew the calm panic of Spencer Reid too well.

"Someone picked up the kids a boy and girl from the aunt's house, someone in uniform, they told her to stay put, that a detective was on their way and they were taking the kids here to the hospital."

"I'll have SJPD send a squad car to the aunt's house, have Agent Segura relay the address to the locals." Hotch's heart dropped, now there were missing kids too.

Reid immediately dialed Garcia.

"You've reached the Oracle of truth, speak and be heard boy wonder."

"Garcia I need you to look into La Raza community center, see if the other victims had a connection to it, that's where the Montegas went for help when they got into the country maybe the other families did too. And also I'm going to need anyone in the past year who's been picked up for hate crime including vandalism. And Garcia, they may have abducted the victim's kids." He waited for while he heard the tell tale sounds of keys clicking.

"Kids, they took her kids? Why would they want to do that? I thought this was about a racial thing?" Garcia's voice quavered for a moment. "You will be interested to know that as ignorant as our Hitler worshipping skells are, they are nothing if not techno savvy. I figured out how they were invisible on camera, they used Stingray technology. But this isn't something you can get at Radioshack, this is military grade stuff. It's basically a laser that overwhelms the digital sensor in the camera; they're referred to as "dazzlers".

"Dazzlers? Could they be made by enhancing the magnification of a normal laser pointer?" Reid was worried; could they be dealing with something bigger here?

"That's why I love you Reid, always ahead of the curve. One skeeziod yearbook coming up, info was just sent to all your pda's., I've eliminated those already in prison, or arrested at the time of the murder and anyone not living in the area, down to 12 nasty racists. Hey Reid?"

"Yeah Garcia?"

She likes you, ya know." Garcia's smirk could be felt across the vast expanse of land that separated them. Without Reid saying a word in response she added "JJ says she's single and is like HUGE Star Trek fan, you might just have found your soul mate boy genius, Garcia out." She had hung up before he could stammer a denial.

True to her word a photo array of suspects was arriving in his inbox. He went back in to the hospital room hoping that this guy was in here, because if he wasn't they had no leads, no names and he had two kids and possibly more and Reid could only imagine (as much as he tried not to) the terrifying ordeal they were going through right now.

"Mrs. Montega can I show you some pictures and just tell me if the man who attacked you is in any of these, he may not be, if you don't recognize any of them, that's okay too." Reid having a PHD in mathematics knew that if you put six pictures in front of someone and asked them to pick out someone they recognized, they would statistically pick out someone who seemed familiar but whom they really didn't know, giving false positives about 12% of the time, this is what made eye witness testimony less than completely reliable.

Reid was just thinking of how much this woman had endured, a man had stabbed her and left her for dead and here she was, now tormented over the loss of her children. "Him, number 6, number 6! Those eyes, he had that scar above his eyebrow, a half moon shape, before I passed out I remember seeing him look down on me, and I remember thinking that someone must have punched him with a ring on a long time ago." She had not hesitated for a moment. "Does he have my children?" She looked desperately from one agent to another. "We don't know that for sure ma'am, but we are going to do everything to find them." Prentiss tried to reassure her.

Reid stepped out and called Garcia to relay the name, Daniel Blaine, "This skinhead is a three time loser, assault, vandalism, methamphetamine possession with intent to sell. He belongs to an "organization" which is code for gang that calls themselves "The Order of California White Knights. I've sent his last known to the team and the locals; they're on their way to pick him up." Reid walked back into the room.

"Mrs. Montega, this is my number, I'll call you as soon as I have any word on Abel and Victoria. We're going to get them back, estoy segura." Sophie meant it; she would find those kids no matter if she had to turn heaven and hell over. "I believe you mija, I do, just bring them back to me safe and sound." They left the hospital room and Sophie had to stop herself from punching the concrete wall, Reid could see how frustrated she was. "If we don't find those kids in the next 24 hours, we won't be brining them home safe, if ever. We need to put out an amber alert."

Sophie picked up her cell to make the call but Reid put his hand on hers, electricity flew through both their spines at the contact. "That might not be the best idea." She looked at him and opened her mouth to let out a long string of what would surely be Spanish curse words, but he headed her off "Just hear me out, if we put out the alert on Victoria and Abel, then the people who have her might panic and kill them just to avoid detection, it's hard traveling with kids, we don't have a vehicle make or model to BOLO and we don't know why the took them, I mean why take the kids? It doesn't make sense for a "street cleaner" personality." He said all this very fast because he knew at any moment her fury at this case would be turned on him, she would think he was being insensitive, but instead she surprised him and went from furious to pensive.

"This guy thinks he's actually doing the world a favor, he's a racist, he thinks he's cleaning house. He wouldn't take the kids; he wouldn't take the time, so either..." Reid finished her thought "He's being directed by someone else or has some interest in keeping them alive." JJ and Prentiss gave each other that "oh boy" look you give your friend when you know the two people in front of you are perfect for each other and neither one of them realizes or believes that the other could be interested. Reid's phone rang, "Hotch did they find Blaine?"

"He's in custody, and he's refusing to speak to anyone but Agent Segura. Although he has a more colorful name for her. I don't think she should go in alone, I want you to sit in on this one, just in case things get to heated in there, I want her to push his buttons and you figure out how to open the right doors from there. And Reid I don't think I need to tell you that he's our best shot at finding those kids." Sophie had made the most illegal u-turn in history, lights and siren blaring as the suburban's engine roared toward the station house.

Sophie didn't speak one word on the stressful drive back to the station house, Reid braved the silence once they arrived out front (Sophie hadn't bothered to park, she'd just jumped out.) "Dr. Segura, we need to come up with a plan, we have to figure this guy out." Reid looked at her feeling as though he was two inches tall when she looked at him even though he probably had a foot and half on the small woman. Sophie hadn't realized her hands were balled into fists since she jumped out of the SUV.

She turned to Reid, "You're absolutely right. We need a plan and I need to get my head on. I'm going to need your help on this one." As she said this she walked closer to him, she was so close now she was looking up at him. He could feel the warmth emanating off her body and wanted to reach out and hold her close to him, she was looking into him and he returned the favor, for the first time he saw a tiny flicker of fear behind her smoky gaze. Their silent exchange was interrupted; Hotch came down the front steps of the station house. "Agent Segura, we're ready to give the profile, you'll need it in there. Agent Reid will sit second chair in the interview; he can pick up on linguistic cues from Blaine, maybe figure out a key to his motivations here." Hotch looked at her and then at Reid. He flashed back to when he met Haley and smiled to himself as they both walked up the stairs neither one of them sure of what would happen next.

"This man is a white supremacist through and through, he believes that people of mixed heritage are unworthy to live, he has no remorse for the murders he's committed, he is someone who gets off on degradation, which is why he rapes the women post mortem, which means he is also sexually inept, he must maintain complete control of his victims, he wants to control this interview, he knows we need to know where the children are and you can be absolutely sure, he will try to save his own skin." Morgan said all this with the distaste of someone who's been on the receiving end of racism one too many times.

"Dr. Reid, Just do me one favor?" Sophie looked at him pleadingly.

"Anything." He really meant it too.

"Just don't let me kill him, before he tells us where the kids are." She flashed him one of those disarming smiles. She walked toward the interrogation room. Morgan had sidled up to Reid. "Wow, that's one spicy lady."

"I like spicy." Reid was surprised at his own response.

"Should I tell her you're in the mood for Mexican tonight?"

"Shut up.' Reid walked into the room right behind Sophie.

"Mr. Blaine I believe you've been read your rights?" Sophie had decided to be cool and professional no matter what was said.

"Agent Segura, you people are always late but to keep me waiting this long? It's not very good policy, not if you want your little wet backs alive." He saw her face tense, he'd hit a nerve and liked it. "Mr. Blaine, you're being charged with assault, attempted murder, first degree murder, terrorism, and kidnapping, those all together mean one thing, a big needle in your arm. Believe me, if those kids die because you withheld information I will personally push the plunger myself." She walked behind Blaine, and leaned in close to his ear "I hear that if I do it _just_ right, you'll twitch in agony, minutes will be an eternity." She more breathed the words into his ear than said them. This was Reid's cue.

"We know you didn't do this alone, give us the name of your employer, tell us where the kids are now and you avoid the death penalty. He's out there, you're in here, do you really want to go down for all of it?" Reid was trying to empathize with him.

"What's a nice white boy like you doing hanging out with low life half breed like her anyway?" He was staring Reid down.

"Abraham Herschel said that racism is man's gravest threat to man, the maximum hatred for minimum of reason. So what is your reason for hating anyone Mr. Blaine, what has been done to you?" Reid stared right back.

"Ha! Oh good show boys and girls, good show. When do you bring out the dog and pony show? I hate these mud people because they ruined our country, they over run our schools, they refuse to learn English, they end up on welfare and good hard working people have to pay for 'em. We can't get jobs because these people will work for pennies on the dollar, but the real reason I can't stand me a beaner, is because they have no pride, they're a broken people, the product of rape, hostile take over and slavery. I will tell you who I was working for, but I wanted to see this little greasers face when I told you. Antonio Barrerra hired me; he's the immigration lawyer that runs the La Raza community center. He said he had some problem clients and did I want to make a little money." He checked to see the effect this would have on Sophie.

"Antonio Barrera hired you to kill these women? Why?" She was so busy being outraged at his bigotry that she couldn't process that it was someone in their own community who had orchestrated this.

"He said they owed him money and he was going to collect one way or the other." Blaine just sat their and smirked at her, he had an artic stare. Sophie had given him the reaction he wanted. "Where are the kids? Why take them in the first place?" Sophie was sick to her stomach because her gut knew the answer.

"Well you see there's a big market for kids their age. Barrera hooked up with some Asian syndicate, figured he's make a profit off the little sewer rats too." He leaned back in his chair as Sophie and Reid exchanged worried glances. As they ran out the door, Reid kicked over his chair and didn't look back.

"We have a problem." Hotch looked more serious than usual if that was possible. Sophie and the BAU team caught a glimpse of the evening news, protestors and lots of them. Sophie didn't have to listen to the news caster because they were right outside the door; one side of the street was filled with supporters of Blaine, some of them that had signs which read "go back home wetbacks" and "get out". On the other side of the street a counter protest from San Jose State University students had messages like "we didn't cross the boarder, the border crossed us." And someone had one that said "Justice for Maria, Helena, and Maricella." Sophie looked around; this has just gotten much more intense. She didn't want to think about what this mob would do if it found out Barrera was behind this.

"Can you have your analyst back in Quantico see if she can find Barrera? I'm heading over to La Raza right now." She was on the war path, it was one thing for an ignorant race to attack a group of illegals, but why would Barrera do this to the people who depended on him? For money? Something just wasn't sitting right with her. She was walking out to the suburban thinking about how bad this all smelled, she heard it before she registered what it was ,three loud pops gun fire.


	3. Chapter 3Troglydtes

Chapter 3- Troglydtes

Years of training and a survival instinct kicked in, she drew her gun and looked for the shooter, but there were at least a hundred people on the street, he had picked a good day to try and kill someone. Uniforms were rushing out into the street to try and calm the hysteria that had been created by the shooter. Sophia looked above her head, about a half inch above her was a .45 caliber bullet hole.

"Dr. Segura! Are you all right?" Reid was breathless with worry. He had let her go alone, how could he have let her leave alone he cursed himself.

"I'm fine, come on we have to find Barrerra." She was impatient normally and someone trying to kill her tended to get on her nerves. She navigated through the one way streets and narrow alleys like someone who had walked them all. Her blackberry rang, Reid noticed it was a Vivaldi ring tone.

"Segura. Hold on I'll put you on speaker." It was Garcia's dulcet tones coming through the car speakers now. "Antonio Barrerra owns the building on 10th street where the community center is located and has a house on Hedding Street. He comes from a prominent Hispanic family in San Jose, dad was a city councilman, mother was head of the local theatre troupe, both were pioneers in their field and social activist with civil rights movement back in the 60's, his sister is a white house aid, but get this he was a c student in high school, barely made it into the army, went to community college under the GI bill, went to law school at night, graduated in the bottom third, Reid, get this he's specialty in the army, laser mechanics. That's how he knew to zap the cameras."

"You got all that with just his name?" Sophia said astonished at Garcia's prowess.

"Garcia's our resident Goddess of cyberspace." Reid said knowing Garcia was listening in.

"You give me a name and I'll give you their brand of toothpaste chica." Garcia smirked

"Garcia, you have what we call _sabor_, flavor, thanks." Sophie hung up.

"I'm gonna call Hotch and see if he can have someone go check out Barrerra's house while we're on our way to La Raza.." Reid picked up his phone.

"Do you think they're still alive?" Sophie looked at him and he knew he couldn't lie.

"Statistically speaking if we don't find them within 24 hours after abduction their chances of being alive when we find them are almost negligible." Reid had rattled this off, not knowing what to say to be comforting. "Just know that you're doing everything you can to save them." Reid was a little shocked at himself,that sounded like something Gideon would say.

They arrive at the building on 10th street, school had just let out and the place was teeming with kids and teenagers and some senior citizens. Sophie could hear banda music playing somewhere. "I don't think they like me much." Reid whispered to her while they walked through the courtyard to the reception desk. "It's not you they don't like Dr. Reid, the older generation isn't what you'd call progressive, a woman with authority is like a bull with teats." Sophie had to endure those kinds of looks even in this day and age but now she hardly noticed. "Donde esta Senior Barrerra?" she asked the receptionist. The young girl behind the counter couldn't be more than 16, and when she saw Reid pull out his credentials (he assumed Sophie had introduced them as agents), she took off running. Bewildered Reid stood there for a second until he realized Sophie had chased after her.

"Migra!" "Migra!" the girl shouted. Sophie was hot on her heels and managed to yank her back by an arm. Everyone who had been in the building immediately tried to exit, some were knocked down by the crowd. Sophie walked the girl back to building and shouted "No so la migra! Soy la policia! Quero aydate! Estamos aqi para ayudar! We're here to help." The building was now almost completely empty. Reid finally caught up with her and by now had put together what had happened. "Dr. Reid." Sophie was out of breath at the moment. "Next time, you're in a room full of people afraid of deportation, I would wait to pull out your credentials." She smiled at him.

The girl was in tears thinking she was surely being deported. "I'm not INS, I'm here because three women in this community were murdered, and now two children are missing." Sophie was trying to appeal to the girl's sense of family.

"I d-don't know, I know nothing." The girl was shaking.

"I just want to find Mr. Barrerra to ask him a few questions, maybe he can help us.

"I know nothing, Mr. Barrerra he is un santo, a saint to us."

"Come te llames? What's your name?" Sophie had to get past this road block.

"Me llamo Ysenia." She lowered her head and looked at the floor.

Reid noticed that the girl didn't make eye contact with either one of them the whole time. "Ysenia? Are you afraid of something? You keep looking out the window, are you afraid someone is going to see you?" Reid had counted, she'd looked out the window 12 times in the last four minutes. Sophie looked at him and then asked. "Ysenia, if you're afraid of Mr. Barrerra, we can protect you, but you have to tell me what you know." The girl looked at one then the other. "If I tell you anything, they will come in the night and take them!" Ysenia blurted out. "Take who? Who are they going to take?" Sophia knew this was her window. "My brothers and sisters, Senior Barrerra said that if the police came to tell them nothing, that if I said anything my brothers and sisters would be taken away like the others." Reid and Sophia exchanged nervous glances. "Others? There were other children taken Ysenia? Do you know where they are?" Reid knew they didn't have much time. "Mr. Barrerra brought them here at first, but then he took them. I don't know where they took them, but I heard Mr. Barrerra on the phone with the insurance man, Mr. Than. He said they had to move the children, that it was getting too dangerous. He said not to tell anyone, that my family could be next." Ysenia started sobbing again. Reid immediately dialed Garcia while Sophie tried to comfort Ysenia and put in word to the locals to pick Barrerra up.

"Garcia, I need you to do something for me." Reid always the polite one.

"Anything for you Wonder Boy, wired for sound and ready for action." Garcia actually cracked her knuckles audibly.

"I need to know if Antonio Barrerra has any other properties around town, warehouses, anything industrial, secluded. Also can you forward any insurance policies, he or any of his companies has on individuals, look specifically for any insurance agents with the last name Than." Reid rattled off as fast as he could, afraid that he was right.

"You'll have it in a jiffy and two shakes. The insurance run down will take the extra shake." She was gone before he could say thanks.

"Your people just picked up Barrerra and our tossing his place, Ysenia only lives about a block from here. I called a judge I know and the ink is drying on the warrant for this place, I"ll be back to help as soon as I know she's safe, I hear you're a genius when it comes to patterns and things like that?." She smiled.

"Um, yeah you could say that." He smiled back.

"Well number one, make it so." She saluted him and he couldn't help but grin.

Sophie had dropped off the scared girl at home to worried parents. They weren't exactly sympathetic to her cause but she tried to make them understand that if no one came forward only more people would get hurt or worse. She didn't know how much she'd gotten through, and the thought of those missing kids was eating at her. She pulled the SUV into to the La Raza parking lot and tried to ignore the little butterflies in her stomach at the thought of Spencer Reid, he was so charmingly unaware of how good looking he was, he was nervous around her and as much as Sophie tried her logical mind wouldn't allow her to dismiss this information.

"Two-hundred thousand, Three hundred thousand, and four hundred thousand, all within the last year, in October, January ,and May but what does that mean?" Reid was puzzled at this, Barrerra had taken out insurance policies on all three women in these months all for amounts lower than the $500,000 reporting limit, this was statistically significant, he just didn't know how. He heard Sophie come in and his stomach was immediately in sailors knots. She has a quiet quirkiness, not loud like Garcia but an undercurrent of subversivness, he noticed as Sophie plunked down next to him and grabbed a pile of paperwork from the volumes of records in the file cabinet. He smiled to himself "She's wearing Chuck Taylors too." He mused. He looked over at her and caught her eye, she gazed right back at him not once wavering, he was lost in her for a second, she was magnetic to him, he leaned in and she didn't move away, he felt his hand move up to her cheek and stroke her face before he gently gripped her head in his palm and tipped her face up to his. He felt like someone else had taken over his body and he knew at any moment she was going to pull away from him. When his lips brushed hers they both exhaled and he felt her soft mouth press back soft at first and then more urgently. Now he was running his hands down her back and pulling her body towards him, as they explored each other, he thought of a line from a Neruda poem that reminded him of her "_I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way." _ Now was not the time for this he told himself, they had to work, they had to find those children but they had both needed that so badly and it had just happened. He had to tear himself away from her and she must have been along the same train of thought because she immediately jumped back to the case.

"So did you find anything? Any patterns uncovered?" She looked at him trying so hard not to betray the fact she wanted to jump on him again, her strategy was to just pretend like it hadn't happened, at least for now.

He decided to follow her lead. "I did, there's these checking withdrawals on La Raza's business account to cash for the exact same amounts of the insurance policies he had taken out on all the women, but the withhdrawls occur before the first murder. He knew he was going to cash in on these women, but why those months? If his plan was to cash in on these women's death, why were they murdered in September? Reid was brought out of his reverie by his phone ringing. "Garcia, did you find anything?" Reid was hopeful. "You were right about the insurance agent a Van Than was the insurance agent for Barrerra's law firm and business accounts, but he's in the wind, no one at his office has heard from him. Barrerra has holdings all over the city Reid, but he does own a cluster of buildings on Monterey Road, it's out of the way, old industrial section of town. I've got a hunch it's the large building in the middle which is vacant, because that's one of the only buildings still wired to the grid, the rest have all fallen into disrepair, now go find those kids!" Garcia rushed.

"These are gambling debts!" Sophie exclaimed.

"What? How do you know?" Reid had to hide his chagrin at being one upped.

"October is World Series, January is Super Bowl and May is the Kentucky derby, he was betting these women's lives on a game." She was disgusted.

"I never saw that, but why did he wait so long to cash in?" That was the part that bothered both of them. Reid dialed the rest of the team; "Hotch Garcia tracked down a possible location for the kids, we're headed there now." Reid had become more self assured in Sophie's presence.

"Reid, I'll have Morgan and Prentiss meet you there, it's a media circus out here, the Order of the California White Knights have taken to calling these "public service murders" and are going on any network that will listen and praising the work of Daniel Blaine. Their leader is calling for the reinstatement of lynching in St. James park the last one was in 1933. We have to be prepared that this could cause a lot of vigilante violence on both sides. JJ is trying to get them to focus on the missing children.. Barrerra isn't talking, he's lawyerd up." Hotch sounded much more somber than usual.

"We're on our way." Reid hung up without delay and jumped up from his chair.

"We have to find those kids alive, this city is turning into a mob." Reid looked at Sophie and saw the instant tiny flicker of fear he'd seen before and then like a flash in was gone, now her face was nothing but determined, he wondered how she did this, how did she live in two worlds all the time. They had already jumped in the SUV, Reid didn't have to give Sophie directions, she knew exactly where that particular building was.

"Teenagers throw raves there all the time, since the late 90's" She said like someone he knew more than a little about the area. Lights and sirens blasting they made their way down First Street which turned into Monterey road on the outskirts of town. The building loomed ahead and the chain link fence surrounding it didn't stop Sophie, she hopped up as high as she could and scaled the rest of the way. "_Now if I don't follow her, she'll think I'm a coward, great." _He thought as he awkwardly planted one foot on the fence and tried to hoist himself up, he ended up falling on the other side.

"It's okay, your first time right?" Sophie teased. Reid just smiled and let it slide. "You take the back and I'll come from the front and we'll close in on the bastards." Sophie was already around the building before he could argue, he had a bad feeling about this, who knew splitting up wasn't the safest thing to do, but if they were both caught off guard it wouldn't do them any good either.

He cleared the south side of the building, a door was flapping open. He could hear someone running into the building, he didn't want to give away his position but he couldn't be sure it wasn't Sophie, then he heard two shots fired. "FBI! Federal Agent, stop!" Reid's heart dropped when he saw Sophie turn around but in the shadows it looked like someone had their arm around her throat. "Let me and Agent Segura here go and I'll tell you where the children are." A low but tinny voice emanated from the shadows, now Reid could see the glint of a gun in the shadows, it was pointed right at Sophie's head.

"Put down the gun, let the Agent go and we can talk." Reid was surprised at how authoritative he sounded. "I'm not doing any such thing, me and Agent Segura here are walking out together and if you try to stop us, she get two to the back of the head." He sneered. "Spencer, they're with the troglydtes, where the troglydtes live and have they have fuel." Sophie blurted out. Spencer looked at her and immediately masked his understanding.

"If Barrerra had just listened to me, if he hadn't gotten greedy then he'd been on his way out of country right now, but he had this itch for the games you know." Than boasted

"Why kill the women? Barrerra's the one who owed you money, why not just take him out send a message?" Sophie was trying to stall, trying to get him to talk be comfortable.

"Shut up, you little bitch.. Barrerra had bought insurance policies on those women thinking he could borrow against the cash value to finance high roller bets, but his luck ran out and he would do anything, and I do mean _anything_ to save his own skin, he served those women up with their little brats." Than was sneering almost foaming at the mouth.

"He gave you the other women's children too?" Reid had been afraid of this, the families too scared to come forward.

"Not just them, but other kids in the neighborhood, illegals, vitenamese, mexican, el salvadorean, he had the crazy skin heads pick them up from schools or on the way to the community center and brought them here, they retailed pretty well too, so many people want one, I can't imagine why." Than was enjoying the look of mixed horror and terror on each of their faces.

"Like I said Agent Reid, we're leaving, follow us and she dies." Than went for the door, he knew he couldn't fire a shot in here, lest it ignite the fuel Sophie had warned him about. "There are agents surrounding this building write now, you won't make it out Than, but you don't have to die." Reid was trying to put aside his fury at someone having Sophie at gun point. "Someone is going to die tonight, I assure you." Reid had to make a decision, get to the kids who were underground and risk Than killing Sophie or let two or more children die. Sophie made the decision for him, "Just make sure they're okay." She was desperate for him to listen to her. Than pushed her out toward the awaiting blockade, Reid knew that either a sniper would take him out, and Sophie might get caught in the cross fire or Than would panic and kill her before they took him out. He had to make a decision, every neuron in his brain was working over time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- I Carry Your heart**

**a/n: This is the last chapter in this story, and warning it does have a steamy (but classy, if I do say so myself,) scene at the end, so any one offended by suggestive poetry or imagery, maybe steer clear. Please Read and Review, I could use some constructive critisim.**

He had no choice he threw himself to the floor and searched for the door. The kids were underground somewhere, the door probably wired to explode, then he spotted the floor tile raised just a bit above the rest. He called Hotch who he knew was already on the scene. "We've got explosives on a trip wire, if I try to open the door it'll blow, and Hotch the kids are in their with the explosives." He had to get a bomb tech in here as soon as possible but Than had Sophie hostage outside and was threatening not only to blow up the kids if impeded but to kill Sophie too. Reid was trying desperately to remember lines of sight from the outside of the building, then it occurred to him, Trogladytes, and he immediately called Hotch back. "Tell the bomb squad to access the building through the service tunnels, the kids are directly underground, this is an old warehouse the tunnels should have direct access to this basement." Hotch didn't take the time to answer, he had his hands full at the moment.

He picked up the bull horn. "Mr. Than put the gun down and let the agent go. We can just talk about this." Hotch was trying to maintain as much composure as he could.

"Get back! I'll kill her." Than shouted as the bright lights blinded him, he couldn't see them but he knew there was a multitude of guns drawn and probably at least two snipers aiming at his head.

Hotch tried again, he wasn't going to let this man kill an agent. "We can't do that, but if you put down the gun we can talk and no one else has to get hurt." Hotch watched and waited.

"I'm getting out of this, and she's my ticket out of here, you get me a car and a jet waiting at the airport, if anyone follows me, I kill your agent." He was a desperate man in a bad situation and Hotch knew that it could end very badly, but Sophie decided to take things into her own hands.

"You kill me and you're as good as dead, you move wrong with that gun in your hand and your dead. You put it down and you just might have a chance to be somebody's bitch before they strap you down." Sophie was testing him, trying to throw him off. Hotch saw the hesitation.

"Now, take your shot." Hotch had given the order and looked on in horror.

Sophie had in one quick motion, shunt kicked Than and thrown him off balance just enough for the sniper to get off a shoulder shot to his armed side, his moment of disorientation was all she needed to grab the .45 and remote detonator out of his hand. She didn't even know she was hit, both snipers had fired at the same moment, one hitting Sophie in the left upper shoulder, but she never relented in her grip and remained standing.

"Breathe wrong and you're dead." Sophie wasn't kidding. She looked to one of the uniforms for cuffs. She hoisted up Than with her good arm in what she though would be the most painful way possible, she looked around and didn't see Spencer.

"Where are the kids? Where's Dr. Reid?" she was more concerned with their well being than the fact that she was shot; which didn't go unnoticed by Hotch or Morgan. Before either of them could answer Reid walked out of the building carrying a little girl and leading out an older boy who couldn't be more than 10. She caught his eye Sophie could tell something was wrong.. Reid was putting the girl and boy into a squad car to go home, when Hotch asked him. "How did you know the kids were in the basement?" He hadn't seen the blood starting to pool on her sweater vest.

"It appears I'm not the only Star Trek fan employed by the FBI. We didn't get here in time, two of the others were already dead from starvation. He was using this as an auction house, Barrerra was abducting kids to be sold into pedophile rings to settle his debt with Than." Hotch and Morgan looked nonplussed and then disgusted.

Without saying another word Reid walked toward the medics who by now had taken off her button down shirt and were making her lie down on the stretcher. "Oh my god, are you all right? What're her vitals? Are you allergic to anything?" Reid had imposed himself in the ambulance with the medics all the while they were yelling at him to get out of the way. "It's fine Dr. Reid, just a flesh wound. Bullet just grazed me. I'll be fine." She looked at him as if being upset about her getting shot was a complete overreaction. "We're taking her to St. Joseph's medical nearby, if you want to follow." But the medic immediately realized his mistake when Reid looked at him like _he_ might get shot if he didn't let Reid ride along with her. He pulled out his phone to tell Hotch he was staying behind, he looked down at her, somehow she still managed to be beautiful and composed even after being shot.

She slipped into unconsciousness due to the painkillers they'd given her, the next thing she knew she woke up in a hospital bed surrounded by deep red roses in gorgeous art deco looking vases. She thought she was dreaming, several cards had been left on her table and a bright cheery bouquet had been placed there as well. It wasn't until she tried to sit up that she remembered what had happened, she groaned and wondered where the nurse was, she could use some more pain killers, before she could push the button a familiar lanky figure stood in the doorway. "You're up, good. How are you feeling?" He was trying so hard to hide his worry. "Like I got shot. How are the kids? Where's the rest of your team? I thought for sure you'd be back on a plane to DC by now." She knew how it was, sometimes you woke up in a different time zone for this job, not remembering the last one you were in. "Abel and Victoria are safe at home, Mrs. Montega told me to tell "Que dios te bendiga" I don't know what that means but Barerra cut a deal and is being charged with insurance fraud and child endangerment, turns out he was willing to risk others people's lives and money just not his own, Than is lawyering up and not saying a word, the two girls that didn't make it were twins, only 9 years old." Reid was so tired of the horror of it all but he went on.

" What's worse is that the White Knights are trying to make Daniel Blaine a hero."

"I'm sure the city is in an uproar over the whole race issue, race is always an issue; but no one remembers these were people, just ordinary people who wanted to work and live in peace. Why aren't you with you team? I'm sure there are more monsters to catch out there."

"Well they send their best regards, but I decided to stay behind for the weekend, you know check out the Tech museum and maybe San Francisco, the doctors say you'll be released tonight, and I don't think you should be alone just yet, so.." Sophie cut him off. "Dr. Reid are you asking me out?" he looked at her for a moment; he wasn't sure how to answer that. "Spencer." He looked into honeyed eyes. "What?" she said a bit confused.

"Call me Spencer." He leaned down and cradled her soft smooth neck, he meant it to be a chaste kiss but she wrapped both her arms around his neck and pulled him toward her. He was leaning on the hospital bed with one knee without knowing it, she ran her fingernails down his back and then he could feel her tender but hot doll like hands unbuttoning his shirt, suddenly he felt the rush of cool air and then tender kisses all along his abdomen. He had to pull himself away. He knew this was irrational, dangerous in her condition even but somehow he ended up lying on the bed. "What if someone comes in?" he asked her worried. "Then I'll shoot 'em." Sophie had breathed into his ear and now she was straddling him. "Spencer." It was more of an incantation than a name in her mouth now, and she had no problem maneuvering her way to what she sought, "tell me Spencer, is this what you want, diegeme." He thought he might die from the feeling flowing through him when she spoke Spanish . He remembered an ee cummings verse and whispered it in her ear as they entwined themselves in an ecstatic and sensual embrace.

" here is the deepest secret nobody knows  
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud  
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows  
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)  
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart  
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)"

She moaned at he spoke the poetry to her, her lips brushed his in an artisan way, giving just enough pressure for him to crave more. He was lost in her, in her fire, in this perfect moment that he wanted to last forever. They both fell to the side with exhaustion and he couldn't stop holding her, kissing her, like if he did she would somehow disappear. "I can't stay for long." He seemed so miserable at the realization. "I know, but you might be interested to know I'm up for a promotion." He looked at her confused and said the only thing that came to mind. "Congratulations."

"Yeah, they want me to head up the one of the organized crime units at Quantico. I'm definitely considering it. I could use a tour guide" she grinned at him.

"I'll help you pack." He wrapped his arms around her and blatantly stole her Jell-o.


End file.
